A growing list of countries has suspended AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 shots amid fears over blood clots and other possible side effects, despite the company and the World Health Organization insisting there is no risk.
Germany, France, Italy, and Spain on Monday joined smaller nations in halting vaccinations as a precaution while checks are made.
Germany’s health ministry announced on Monday that it would stop administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine with immediate effect, on the recommendation of the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), the country’s authority on vaccines.
“The background to this decision follows new reports of cases of cerebral vein thrombosis connected with an AstraZeneca vaccination,” Health Minister Jens Spahn said.
“In light of these newly reported cases, the Paul Ehrlich Institute today re-evaluated the situation and recommended a suspension of vaccinations and further analysis.”
He said the decision was “not political”. “All of us are very aware of the consequences of this decision, and we did not take this decision lightly,” he added.
Shortly afterwards, French President Emmanuel Macron said France was suspending the vaccine until new advice was given by the EMA.
“We have a simple guide, to be informed by science and the competent health authorities and to do it as part of a European strategy,” he said.
And Italy’s medicines agency extended a ban introduced on individual batches of the vaccine throughout the country, also pending the EMA decision.
Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said use of the vaccine would be suspended there for at least two weeks.
The suspensions came less than a day after the Netherlands did the same. Its suspension will last until at least 29 March.
Here’s a recap:
– Suspending batches –
Austria announced on March 8 that it had stopped administering a batch of the vaccine following the death of a 49-year-old nurse from “severe bleeding disorders” days after receiving it.
Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Luxembourg also suspended the use of doses from the same batch, which has been delivered to 17 countries and included one million vaccines.
Italy’s medicines regulator on March 11 also banned the use of a batch as a precaution, triggering a similar decision from Romania.
And on March 14 Italy’s northern Piedmont region suspended use of the vaccine after the death of a teacher who had received it the day before.
– Nordic countries sound alarm –
Denmark was the first Nordic country on March 11 to say it will suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure over fears of blood clots in vaccinated people.
Iceland and Norway followed the same day, temporarily suspending use of all their supply of the vaccine citing similar concerns.
AstraZeneca, an Anglo-Swedish company which developed the vaccine with Oxford University, defended the safety of its product.
– Growing list –
Bulgaria suspended the use of the vaccine on March 12 as it investigated the death of a woman with several underlying conditions who received the jab in the past week.
An initial probe suggested the woman died from heart failure and an autopsy found no link with the vaccination.
Thailand abruptly delayed the start of its rollout of the vaccine the same day, joined by the Democratic Republic of Congo.
On Saturday Norwegian health officials reported three more cases of blood clots or brain haemorrhages in younger people who received the jab, but say they can not yet say they were vaccine-related.
The next day Ireland and the Netherlands joined the list of countries temporarily deferring the use of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries not to pause Covid vaccinations, as several major EU member states halted their rollouts of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab.
It said there was no evidence of a link between the vaccine and blood clots.
The WHO’s vaccine safety experts are meeting on Tuesday to discuss the jab.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will meet on the same day and is due to draw conclusions on Thursday. It has also said the vaccine should continue to be used.
There have been a number of cases in Europe of blood clots developing after the vaccine was administered.
However, experts say these were no more than the number of blood-clot incidents typically reported within the general population.
About 17 million people in the EU and the UK have received a dose of the vaccine, with fewer than 40 cases of blood clots reported as of last week, AstraZeneca said.
With agency report
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